Mark Jackson gets nice assist from Jim Harbaugh

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Perhaps no head coach in the NBA has a tougher task this season than Mark Jackson.

The former New York Knicks point guard took over a Golden State Warriors team that has made the playoffs only once since 1994.

The fact the 17-year NBA veteran has no prior coaching experience - high school, college or pro - only makes the challenge even more daunting.

But if attitude counts for anything - and it often does - at least Jackson appears to have the Warriors pointed in the right direction, albeit only two games into the season.

After a 19-point season-opening loss to the Clippers Christmas night in Chris Paul’s LA debut, Golden State bounced back the next night to beat the highly touted Chicago Bulls 99-91.

Tonight, the Warriors try to go over the .500 mark when they host Jackson’s former team, the Knicks, in the third game of a four-game homestand to open the season.

One thing Action Jackson has already done is change the mindset of the players, taking a direct no-nonsense, no-excuse approach with them and getting them to buy into one common goal.

He’s even mentioned the “P” word: Playoffs.

But before Jackson and the Warriors can think about the postseason, they have to do a lot of catching up in the regular season.

This might be the worst season to be a new coach. Because of the lockout, preseason training camp was shortened. Jackson had less time to install a new offense and defense, and the Warriors played only two preseason games to get ready.

So what did Jackson do? He contacted another first-year coach from the Bay Area to seek his advice on how to get a team ready in shorter time.

Jim Harbaugh has completely turned the San Francisco 49ers’ fortunes around, leading them to the NFC West championship in his first season. Jackson paid Harbaugh’s practice a visit and the 49ers’ coach shared some tips, including how he installed a new offense and defense in a short time.

The Warriors’ rookie coach also got together with Oakland Raiders first-year coach Hue Jackson, who, like Harbaugh, didn’t allow a lockout to thwart his team as he began a new job. Entering the final week of the regular season, he has the Silver and Black in the playoff hunt and in position to win the AFC West.

No wonder Mark Jackson looked to both of them for advice.

“They're both great leaders," he said of his two NFL coaching neighbors. “They've turned things around. They've made things that I look forward to making here.”

Unlike Harbaugh and Hue Jackson, however, the former NBA Rookie of the Year has no prior coaching experience.

But he showed how well he understood the game’s nuances and strategies during his work in the broadcast booth with ABC and ESPN the last few years. Already, in a short time, he has Golden State playing a tough, physical defense, something that’s been sorely missing there.

And he actually does have something in common already with Harbaugh and Hue Jackson. He says he will not use the labor stoppage and shortened training camp as an excuse to a slow start. He doesn’t expect his players to, either.

“Neither one of those coaches used a shortened preparation time as an excuse, and we won't either,” he said. “It's a tailor-made excuse, and we're not going to start this season by making excuses.

“I'm not going to give the guys an option to say, ‘Well, we wish we had a longer time.’ ”

It says here Jackson will make a difference with the Warriors during this shortened-season, maybe even a big enough difference to sneak the Warriors into the playoffs.

Then we can give Jim Harbaugh credit for having a hand in two turnarounds by the Bay.